Friends Forever
by TheEvilDooer
Summary: L/L Set after the season finale. ^^ How Luke and Lorelai make up. Written for the Java Junkies contest.


Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. If I did L/L would have been together a LOOOOOOOT sooner…

A/N: And once again, this is for the Java Junkies contest. To all those wondering, the contest is now closed and people are wondering who's gonna win. This isn't the version I submitted for the contest… This one's a bit longer. But I liked it better, so please R/R!!! ^^ 

Friends Forever

By: TheEvilDooer

"That's just so typical!" Rory exclaimed as she came into the living room where Lorelai was sitting on the couch, staring aimlessly at a book that Rory gave her.

"Yeah, I know," Lorelai replied automatically, even though she had no clue what her daughter was talking about.

"Mom..." she drawled it out as if she was talking in a southern accent. "You _don't_ know, I haven't said what yet."

"Yeah, I know," Lorelai said again. The book seemed strange with its odd leather bindings... An old book.

"Mom!"

A hand suddenly materialized in front of her face, waving frantically.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, breaking away from her thoughts about the book. She looked up into the face of her 17-year-old daughter. Rory raised an eyebrow, but she pretended not to notice it. "What's typical?"

Rory sat down beside her and began chatting away. "Well, for one, you. Never knowing what I'm talking about if I run into the room like this, but I guess you wouldn't know what I was talking about `cause you're not a mind reader, so I shouldn't call you typical, but -"

"Slow down, sister!" Lorelai laughed at her. "How much coffee did you have today?"

Rory looked at her skeptically. "I'm usually the one to ask you that." She took a pillow and playfully threw it at Lorelai, receiving an outstretched tongue in reply. "Anyway, it's typical that everyone always thinks that when a guy and a girl are best friends, they always fall in love in the end." 

Lorelai raised an eyebrow and for the first time she didn't say anything. Usually she would have been talking non-stop (a quality that got inherited by Rory), but today she was dreading the horrible hour when her only daughter would leave her for a whole 6 weeks. 

"Of course, most of the time that _is_ what happens. Like that story called "Friends for Life" in one of those Chicken Soup for the Soul books. They were heading for college and then they realized that they're in love. Cute story actually. Or even in that show about vampires or something - what's it called?"

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"- Right, in that show that weird guy Xander and the red head were in love, but then she turned into a lesbian and - I'm getting off topic…"

Lorelai laughed again trying to cover up her bad mood. "And what made you start off this whole conversation?"

"A book," Rory grinned. 

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Of course, why did I even ask?" she said jokingly. 

"Anyway, I was right though, wasn't I?" Rory asked. 

"Well, it's doesn't _always _happen!" Lorelai said, feeling less sure then she sounded. 

"Oh yeah? Name one time it didn't," Rory challenged her. 

"Well… um… um…Oh, that one time in kindergarten you had this guy you were really good friends with and you always played with him, and you're not in love now," Lorelai put her chin up in triumph. 

"Do you even remember his name?" Rory raised an amused eyebrow at her mom. "Because I sure don't. I can't be in love with someone I don't even remember!"

Lorelai pouted and tried to think up of more examples. She looked all around the room, rolled her eyes to the top of her head, and starred cross-eyed at the pillows. "Uh…."

"Jess and I aren't best friends, so you can't say that."

Lorelai looked up at Rory with a confused expression. "That thought never even crossed my mind! That's horrid! Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?" Pure shock. 

Rory smiled nervously trying to act innocent, but failed miserably. 

"Oh! I got one, Luke and I aren't in love!" Lorelai exclaimed out of no where. She grinned widely, happy that she finally thought something up to prove Rory wrong. A look of despair suddenly crossed her face as she realized that her and Luke might not exactly be best friends anymore because of their fight. If they ever were in the first place…

Rory looked at her mom, concerned. "Mom… " She reached out and put her hand on Lorelai's shoulder. "You'll make up, don't worry. He probably just needs some time," she said softly.

"Some time from what?" Lorelai's face screwed up into a grimace and she tried to keep in the sobs as the next words came out. "From me?" 

"No - " 

"It's OK, Rory. You don't have make up excuses for him," Lorelai said, all the laughter she usually had in her voice gone completely. "C'mon, let's get you finished packing." 

With that she got up and without even looking at Rory she went out of the living room. The day had certainly not started off good.

"Noooooo…. You can't leave!" Lorelai whined as she hung to her daughter's arm. The two of them were standing beside the bus that was to take Rory to meet up with Paris where they would leave for Washington. 

"I don't want to want to leave any more then you want me to go, but I _have _to. If I don't be there in time, Paris will have my head," Rory explained to her mom for the thousands time. "Listen, I'll call you every night and describe to you in detail everything that I did in the day. All right?"

"But… but… what will I do here without you all summer?" Lorelai racked her brain for more excuses to prolong Rory staying in Stars Hollow. She knew that there was no way to convince her to stay, but the longer she was here the less time Lorelai would have to spend by herself. Even if it was just for 2 minutes longer. 

"I'm not going to be gone the whole summer. Just 6 weeks."

"Still a very long time."

"Agreed, but there's no way out. And you can just watch movies with Sookie for," Rory suggested and picked up her backpack off the ground. All the other baggage was already on the bus. 

"I can't. Sookie's gone for her honeymoon." Lorelai pouted. 

"Well… Look at it this way. At least Michel's still here." Rory smiled while Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Bye, Mom. I'll miss you!"

The two of them hugged and Rory began walking up into the bus.

"Bye, Honey." 

Lorelai watched the door's of the bus close as her shoulder's sagged with the thoughts of not seeing her daughter for the next six weeks on her mind. 

Lorelai slowly treated trough the center of town. Her eyes were down on the ground and her mind was off in space. She didn't even notice as a bunch of little kids ran past her, screaming and laughing. 

After parking the car back at the house, she had walked all around the house trying to find something to do. But without Rory there it just seemed so empty. Outside the day seemed nice enough, so she decided to take a walk. 

Lorelai sat down on the bench beside the gazebo and tilted her head sideways, staring off into the sky. What usually made her happy? Puppies… No, she couldn't have those, or they wouldn't survive till the end of the week. Coffee… Nice, dark, rich, coffee... A goofy grin made its way onto Lorelai's face and plastered itself there as she thought about her favorite beverage. 

She tried to avoid the thought of coffee as soon as it hit her that the only place with decent coffee was Luke's. _No, no, no, I will not go in there!_ She scolded herself. _Argh! It hasn't been half an hour since Rory left and I'm already talking to myself! _She sighed and shook her head at herself. 

Her mind was at war with itself. She wasn't feeling so well and coffee would make her happier. But to get the coffee she would need to go into the diner where she would see Luke, who still wasn't talking to her. Coffee solved all her problems. Except for the problem with Luke. To anyone who looked at her when they were passing by, Lorelai looked like an insane maniac, her face going from happy to sad with every second. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Lorelai saw Miss Patty walking in her direction. _Uh oh,_ she thought. If Miss Patty saw her she would start questioning her about her strange behavior and how she was feeling about Rory being gone, and Lorelai would most likely snap at her, and then the news would be around town in less then half an hour. That was _not_ what she needed right now. 

The only place to escape was Luke's. 

Lorelai groaned in disbelief, but got up anyway. She ducked under a tree to hide from Miss Patty and ran into the diner. Before she lost her courage, she stomped up to the counter where Luke was whipping something and banged her palms on it. 

"One cup of coffee!" she said forcefully and instantly wished she hadn't sounded so stupid. 

Luke looked up at her and raised a skeptical eyebrow, but didn't say anything. He got out a red mug, poured some coffee into it and handed it over to Lorelai without another glance at her. She took the mug and muttered a quiet "Thanks", but she doubted that he even heard her. It pained her to see him like this, but there was nothing she could do to change it. She had already apologized, and there were no other plans spinning in her head to get Luke to talk to her. 

As Lorelai found the table farthest away from Luke to sit, she slowly sipped her coffee. She soon realized that she should have asked for a to-go cup, but now there was no way she was going to go talk to him again. She looked around the diner, and wondered at how little people were in it. Where was everyone? 

__

Probably enjoying their summer with friends, Lorelai thought bitterly. She sighed and kept her head low while she looked out the window. To no surprise, most of the citizens of Stars Hollow were out there doing whatever it was that made them happy.

Unconsciously, she looked over at Luke. He was writing something or other on a piece of paper. He had a scowl on his face, and he looked even less happy then he usually did, if that was even possible. 

Something wet rolled down Lorelai's cheek, surprising her. 

She wiped away the tear and stared down into her coffee. Steam rose from it, circling and coiling into her face. She softly blew it away, not wanting to feel its heat against her face, and wondered why a tear had just escaped her eyes. _It's because of Luke,_ something deep inside of her said. _You miss him._ And she couldn't argue with that. She sniffed as another tear replaced the one before. 

"Refill?" a voice said, startling her.

She looked up into Luke's face and burst into even more tears. Luke put down the coffee pot and stared at her in confusion.

"Is it my coffee…?" he asked, unsure of himself.

More tears streamed down her face like a waterfall as a great sob shook her shoulders. 

Trying to calm her down, Luke joked, "Oh my God, it _is_ my coffee! You should have said something instead of pretending to like it all these years!"

Lorelai managed a small smile, but the tears were still coming down. Luke didn't often make joked unless he was being sarcastic, which made Lorelai wonder why he was trying to make her feel better all of a sudden. He looked at Lorelai's face and for a moment she could have sworn that the coldness in his eyes was gone. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding concerned.

Lorelai sobbed a bit, and nodded. She didn't exactly feel like telling out her life story to Luke, especially when they were in a fight. After all, people were supposed to avoid each other when they were fighting. She desperately tried to avoid his eyes as she got up, feeling really stupid she had let Luke see her crying. Feeling even more stupid at starting to cry in the first place. "I havta go."

His hand on her shoulder gently pushed her back down in her seat. "Lorelai, what's wrong?"

She didn't look at him. In fact, she didn't look at anything. She kept her eyes closed and her shoulders hunched, tears falling slowly. 

"Look at me, Lorelai," he said, his words forceful but somehow comforting. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't think you'd care even if I told you," she replied bitterly, never once turning to look at him.

Keeping his hand on her shoulder, he sounded slightly guilty when he said, "Of course I care."

"You sure have funny ways of showing it," she snapped before she could stop herself. 

The hand from her shoulder was gone. She looked back to see what happened, instantly sorry that she didn't think before talking. To her surprise, Luke was still standing behind her. She looked up at him through blurry eyes and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." 

The coldness in his voice was back, striking through her heart like an icicle. "Doesn't matter." 

She wiped away at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. She stared up into his face, trying to get through the shield. He said he cared… so why was he afraid to show it?

"It's just… Rory's gone for the next six weeks, Sookie's away on her honeymoon, and the one person who was supposed to be there for me, won't talk to me," she said quietly, hoping it would be a good enough explanation for Luke. She would have also added the fact that Christopher had just come and gone again, but she didn't think it was a good idea mentioning it to Luke. 

Luke sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he pulled up a chair and sat down across from Lorelai. Looking around, she saw that there was no one left in the diner but the two of them. 

"It's for Rory's own good, and Sookie will be back before you know it," he said soothingly. 

"That still doesn't solve the last problem," Lorelai said, in almost a whisper. But Luke heard it anyway.

He turned his head away and stared at the door as if expecting someone to come in it right at that moment. It was obvious that he wasn't very comfortable with this and that whatever made him be so icy to Lorelai was still bothering him. 

"Luke, I'm sorry."

"I know."

"Then why?" Luke looked at her in surprise, when she asked the question. "Why won't you forgive me?"

Silence filled the diner. 

"Okay, hear me out first then," Lorelai said trying to keep eye contact with him. This was her one and only chance to fix this stupid thing between them, and she didn't want to ruin it. She missed Luke so much; it caused her unbearable pain every day. Her days weren't complete without him. 

"Ever since I was a little kid, my parents always expected something from me. But I just couldn't give it to them. I could never prove that I was worth being their daughter. Getting pregnant at 16 definitely didn't help any of it. 

"I made my way through life after that, got a job at the Inn, and slowly worked my way up to where I am today. But all of that doesn't matter. There's only one thing that I'm really proud of, that I can start to prove that I'm not so hopeless after all. Only with Rory I can prove that I can get along by myself. 

"She's this wonderful little girl, who's really smart, and who I love **_so_** much. And the night when she was out with Jess and got into that car crash, I thought I lost it all. For a moment, a thought flashed through my mind: What if it was more then just a hairline fracture? What if she got _killed_?" A sob shook her as she said the word 'killed'. "All that I ever worked for; all I ever dreamed… my whole life would be broken. I wouldn't be able to live without her. 

"So naturally I blamed the first person who was there. You were the only one around who was related to anything that had to do with Jess. And you don't know how incredibly sorry I am that I yelled at you. It wasn't your fault at all. All you wanted to do was help. That's all you _ever_ wanted to do; taking in a kid like Jess. You never intended anything bad to happen. All the things that you've ever done for me, and for Rory, and for _everyone_ and you _so_ didn't deserve what I said to you that night." She looked him straight in the eyes and whispered. "I'm sorry." 

She felt so small and helpless now as Luke stared at her, the ice melting away. She wanted to kill herself for all the bad things she did to him. 

His voice sounded lost in the empty diner. "I know you're sorry," he said gently and took her hands into his. "And I'm sorry too… for being a heartless jerk." 

She stared up at him, surprised that he would say such a thing about himself. 

"That night…" he began, "I got hurt so bad, and I wanted to fix it so bad, that I just took Jess and without thinking sent him back. I didn't want him hurting you or Rory anymore. But with Jess out of the way, I was afraid to go back to the way things were before… I still am." He looked away from her, and Lorelai knew how hard all this talking was for him. He was never a person who opened up much. 

"I was afraid of getting hurt again that I didn't even consider your feelings. I don't deserve your apology," he still didn't meet her eyes; just held her hands.

A small smile spread across Lorelai's face. That was it? That's all that Luke was hiding that made him so icy? He was just acting human. No one wanted to get hurt. 

She got up from her chair and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "I promise I'll try not hurt you anymore. I really, _really_ miss you," she muttered into his shoulder. 

He got up from his chair too, and put his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "I'm glad I have my best friend back." 

She looked into his face and smiled, "Best friend?" 

He nodded. 

Lorelai leaned her head against his shoulder and what she felt was beyond happiness. Her thoughts went back to the beginning of the day when her and Rory were arguing about best friends falling in love. Maybe Rory was right, but no one would know about it until Lorelai worked up the courage to tell.


End file.
